Student Extracurricular Activities

One thing that connects students and schools all over the nation are the wide range of fun and interesting after school programs, known as extracurriculars. Schools offer lots of extracurricular programs that interest students hobbies and talents from sports, such as football or basketball, to clubs that help out and benefit the school, such as school council or leadership and unique clubs that students share a common interest in such as Harry Potter club or running club. Although extracurricular activities are just as beneficial to a students educational experience as in-school classes, students should be able to have the option to choose whether they would wish to participate in the activities. Forcing a student to participate and serve in these extracurricular programs will deter the quality of the programs, decrease student welfare, and make students even busier than they already are, leaving them no time for other activities outside of school.

If the option to opt out of joining an extra program is stripped from students, the qualities of the clubs can and will decrease. If a student chooses to participate in an extracurricular on their own time, the student will be excited and enthusiastic to engage in the program. Whereas if a student is forced to participate in a club or program, they will be the opposite, and likely will be put in a negative mindset where they believe that they are forced to be there. It's important for students to have the choice to participate to where students feel enthusiastic about the club and happy to be there.

Requiring students to join an extra activity at the end of the day will also create unhappiness among students. Students are already required to be at school and work for 7 hours a day and 35 hours a week. The extra activities at the end of the day can add on up to 4 hours of extra time to the already long school day, making it up to 50 hours per week. Some sports practices even go until 7:30 PM and also require students to meet on the weekends. Students are already exhausted and unhappy with the current school day, and forcing an extra 15 hours a week will have a devastating effect on the previously unhappy students.

Many students are involved in extracurricular activities that are not school sponsored and are run by an organization outside of school. If school forces the students to join an activity, it will take up more time. It will leave students with no time for their other not-school related activities, yet another forced school related thing taking time out of the day that isn't school. Forcing students to join a club will create the same effect homework has on students. They will form a hatred for clubs, just like many students have for homework, because it leaves them with less and less out of school time.

In conclusion, schools should not allow students to choose whether they would like to participate in extracurricular activities because it can decrease the quality of the clubs, create unhappiness among students, and cause students to be even more busy and leaving students unavailable for other non-school related activities. Giving students the freedom to be able to choose whether they would like to participate lets students have more power. Taking away that power and putting just another thing thats forced on to their plate will cause students even more stress and discomfort. 